LOVELIGHT
magazine
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Volume 3, no. 2***February 2006
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Managing editors: Adamaria Francis and Richard Shining Thunder Francis.
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Contributors to this issue: Jim Dwyer, Pat Fields, Chris Finer, Mick Gallagher, Tom Gustin, Heidi Nordberg, David Hem Sagar, Karleen Sell, Ty Scharrer, Dennis Spencer, Geoffrey Stoermer, Heather Wiggins
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FENG SHUI CORNER, sent in by Pat Fields
Use colors that are subtle, soothing, and harmonious in your garden. Don't place spiky or thorny plants close to your front door or flanking the path leading to your house. Put these "hostile" plants on the perimeter of your property, some distance from your house, as a natural deterrent to intruders. Hang a close-up photograph, illustration, or painting of a mountain or forest behind you if you sit in your office with your back to the wall. This will lend support to you and your business. Don't decorate with an image of a horse that is bucking or rearing up as if in fear, especially in your bedroom. Recharge your crystals by placing them out in the moonlight as often as you can. Share the blessings and abundance of your garden with others, whether it is in the form of fruits, flowers, herbs, or vegetables.
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THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIEND: COMMENTS FROM 1955, sent in by Jim Dwyer
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"I'll tell you one thing: If things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."***"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will buy a us only a used one."***"Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."***"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."***"I'm just afraid that the Volkswagen is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."***"No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood." ***** ***** |
This fine cartoon, so full of meaning and warning, was kindly prepared especially for Lovelight magazine by our very talented resident artist, Dennis Spencer
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SNORTS AND GIGGLES: HUMORTHERAPY
MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY: TOSS THEM, sent in by Karleen Sell
George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were flying on Air Force One. The President looked at the Vice President, chuckled, and said, "You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out the window right now and make somebody very happy."
The Vice President shrugged and said, "Well, I could throw 10 $100 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy."
Not to be outdone, the Secretary of Defense said, "Of course, then, I could throw 100 $10 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy."
The pilot rolled his eyes and said to his co-pilot, "Such arrogant asses back there. Hell, I could throw the three of them out the window and make 256 million people really happy!"
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STILL MORE BUSH GENIUS, sent in by Ty Scharrer
Recent quotes by G.W. Bush:
"This is an urban
environment. Right over here is Juarez. And people are able to easily come
into the border -- into Texas, in this part of -- in part of the border."
**
"My pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's not necessarily
based in religion. I think there's a life there, therefore the notion of life,
liberty and pursuit of happiness."
**
"The questionnaire that she filled out is an important questionnaire. And, obviously, they will address the questions that the senators have in the questionnaire as a result of the answers to the questions in the questionnaire."
**
"Countries such as ours have an obligation to step up, working together,
sanding, sending a common message, to the Iranians, that, uhh, uhh -- that it's
-- the behavior -- kind of -- trying to -- uhh, clandessintly develop a
nukyular weapon, or using the guise of a civilian nukyular weapon program to
get the know-how to develop a nukyular weapon is unacceptable."
**
"I can't imagine a tax code that penalizes marriage. It seems like to me we ought to be encouraging marriage to our tax code." --Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 6, 2006
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OXYMORONS, sent in by Ty Scharrer
50. Chicken fajitas***49. Government assistance***48. Net security***47. Jump start***46. Film critic***45. Marriage counselor***44. sex education***43. Golf fashion***42. Sleeper hit***41. Word Perfect***40. Artificial intelligence***
39. religious right***38. postmodern***37. German food***36. bugfix***35. Near miss***34. Republican party***33. Legal ethics***32. Postal service***31. Jumbo shrimp***29. halfnaked***28. Freezerburn***27. old news***26. white chocolate***25. working vacation***24. loose tights***23. original copy*** 22. Recorded live***21. dull roar***20. plastic silverware***19. fresh frozen*** 18. service station***17. common courtesy***16. foolproof instructions***15. Moral majority***14. deficit spending***13. social security***12. Half full***11. Exxon cleanup***10. compassionate management***9. truthful tabloids***8. Reagan memoirs***7. holy war***6. clean coal***5. friendly fire***4. professional wrestling***3. Soviet Union***2. job security***country music.
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SOME DAFFY-NITIONS, sent in by Chris Finer
beauty parlor-- A place where women curl up and dye.***Cannibal-- Someone who
is fed up with people.***Committee-- A body that keeps minutes and wastes
hours.***dust-- Mud with the juice squeezed out.***Egotist-- Someone who is
usually me-deep in conversation.***Inflation-- Cutting money in half without
damaging the paper.***Mosquito-- An insect that makes you like flies
better.***Raisin-- Grape with a sunburn.***Secret-- Something you tell to one
person at a time.***Toothache-- The pain that drives you to
extraction.***Tomorrow-- One of the greatest labor saving devices of
today.***Yawn-- An honest opinion openly expressed.
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THE OLD PRIEST'S LAST WISH,
sent in by Mick Gallagher
The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years, he had faithfully
served the people of the nation's capital. He motioned for one of his aides to
come near.
"Yes, Father?" said the aide.
"I would really like to see George W. Bush and Tom DeLay before I die" whispered the priest.
"I'll see what I can do," replied the aide. He sent the request to the White House, and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived: Bush and DeLay would be delighted to visit the priest.
As they went to the hospital, Delay commented to Bush "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our image after the number the Democrats have done on us." Bush couldn't help but agree.
When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Bush's hand in his right hand and DeLay's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face. Finally, Congressman DeLay spoke: "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"
The old priest slowly replied "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
"Amen," said Bush sonorously.
"Amen," parroted DeLay.
The old priest continued, "He died between two thieves. I would like to do the same."
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NEW FUNDY
BOOK, sent in by Chris Finer
Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggert have written a new book. It's called Ministers do More than Lay People.
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MORE OBSERVATIONS, sent in by Chris Finer
A transvestite is A guy who likes to eat, drink, and be Mary.**My mind works like lightning-- one brilliant flash, and it is gone!***I hate sex in the movies. Tried it once. The seat folded up, the drink spilled, and that ice -- well, it really chilled the mood.***My next house will have no kitchen -- just vending machines and a large trash can.***A blonde said, "I was worried that my mechanic might try to rip me off. I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid."***Definition of a teenager: God's punishment for enjoying sex!***As we slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way.
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SIMPLE ONE-LINERS, sent in by Chris Finer
What Do You Call Four Bullfighters in Quicksand? Quatro Sinko.
How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest?
They Take The Psycho Path.
What Do You Call A Boomerang That Doesn't Come Back?
A Stick.
What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic?
Sanka.
What Do You Call Skydiving Lawyers?
Skeet.
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REPEATABLE REMARKS
"No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is
entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is
run for public office."-- George Bernard Shaw
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"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."—U.S. president Harry Truman
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LET IT GO [for 2006], sent in
by H. Wiggins
By T. D. Jakes
There are people who can walk away
from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from
you, let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into
staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to
see you, staying attached to you. I mean, hang up the phone! When people can
walk away from you, let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that
left….People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not
joined to you, you can't make them stay…. And it doesn't mean that they are bad
persons. It just means that their part in the story is over. And you have to
know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to
raise the dead. You have to know when it's dead. You have to know when it's
over. Let me tell you something:… I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm
hateful; it's that I'm faithful. And I know that whatever God means for me to
have, He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat, I don't need it.
Stop begging people to stay….If you are holding on to something that doesn't
belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to let it go.
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains, let them go. If someone can't
treat you right, love you back, and see your worth, let her go. If someone has
angered you, let her go. If you are holding on to thoughts of evil and
revenge, let them go. If you are involved in a wrong relationship or
addiction, let it go.
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WISDOM
FROM ROBERT HEINLEIN, THE SCIENCE-FICTION WRITER, A HALF-CENTURY AGO, sent in by Tom Gustin
The themes [do not]… lend conviction, particularly with reference to two
notions: the idea that space travel, once apparently firmly established, could
fall into disuse, and secondly the idea that the United States could lapse into
a dictatorship of superstition. As for the first,… Space travel in the near
future is likely to be a marginal proposition at best, subsidized for military
reasons. It could die out - then undergo a renascence through new techniques
and through new economic and political pressures….
As for the second notion, the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. This is equally true whether the faith is Communism or "Holy-Rollerism"; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so. The custodians of the "True Faith" cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.
Nevertheless, this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country-- Sunday closings spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva's Zion, Smith's Nauvoo, a few others. The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.
Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not; but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday's efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck. Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti-"furriners" in general and anti-intellectuals here at home; and the result might be something quite frightening-- particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington.
Impossible? Remember the
Klan in the twenties-- and how far it got without even a dynamic leader.
Remember Karl Marx and note how close that unscientific piece of nonsense
called Das Kapital has come to smothering out all freedom of thought on half a
planet, without, mind you, the emotional advantage of calling it a
"religion." The capacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense
and spewing it forth in violent and repressive action has never yet been
plumbed….
Robert A. Heinlein
October 1952
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PERSONALOVICTORIES!!
This little magazine is written for our spiritual family. It is growing every month, but we still want to keep the "personal touch," which we treasure. We still want it to retain some of the "family warmth," and "family feeling." So, this month, we are initiating this new section. Here, we will be announcing "true story" personal Love-victories of our friends, our sisters and brothers. So, if you have had a victory over some problem, if you have recently come to a resolution of some challenge or difficulty, if you have conquered, or recovered from, an interior "dragon" or "demon," please let us know! We want to share your joy, and your victory, with our efamily!
We are especially blessed this month, as it seems as if the year twenty-oh-six is getting off to a splendid start! We will, to be fair, mention the new accomplishments in alphabetical order. We celebrate four joyous, marvelous spiritual achievements of great importance to the soul:
Jim Dwyer has vanquished the very tough "interior demon" of tobacco, after much struggle and many attempts! Congratulations, Jim! We are all behind you one thousand percent!
Pat Fields wrestles with another "dragon," that which is probably as common as smoking—overweight. She has now been going to the gym, regularly, for a year now! And people are starting to notice!
Adamaria Francis celebrates thirty-five years of marriage this month (February 9). She is a jewel of patience, tolerance, kindness, and service, a model for all women, and men! You've come a long way, Baby!
And Isaiah Toran has truly "walked his talk"! He was offered a very lucrative contract, a national one, to do some advertising, with a huge paycheck! But because it was for beef, and he believes in compassion, and lives as a fine vegetarian, he turned it down! We are bursting with pride in your strong, principled, wonderful, merciful decision, bro!
You are all outstanding models of major and everlasting accomplishments. These have to do with Love, including selflove, and so, are important to the soul. (Most earthly decisions are not.) So, sincerest congratulations to you all. May all of us follow your fine, excellent, shining, and superb examples!
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LEARNING FROM BROTHER DOG, sent in by Geoffrey Stoermer
If a dog was the teacher, you would learn stuff like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.***Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.***Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.***When it is in your best interest, practice obedience—or, at least, cooperation.***Let others know when they have invaded your territory.***Take naps.***Stretch before rising.***Run, romp and play daily.***Thrive on attention; and let people touch you.***Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.***On warm days, stop to lie on your back in the grass. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.***When you are happy, dance around and wag your entire body.***No matter how often you are scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout! Run right back and make friends again!*** Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.***Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.***Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you are not.***If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.***When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
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MORE GREED RUINING MORE OF MOTHER EARTH , written by Carol Espelage
This is a model letter written by a model citizen to the "move on" activist group:
Alaska is at risk! And I'm certain that this was tacked on to another fabulous bit of legislation. (Cincinnati Enquirer, page A3, tucked away.)
The Interior Department opened nearly half a million acres of Federal Land in an ecologically sensitive area of Alaska's North Slope to oil and gas "development." This allowed access to virtually all of the wetland's surrounding Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
This includes one of the most important molting areas in the artic for wild geese and areas sought out by caribou herds for calving.
They will never stop. They just want to stop anything beautiful that we have left.
Please tell your guys at MoveOn to get on the stick.
Love,
Coral
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LOVE AS TRUE SPIRITUALITY, by Richard Francis
People need Love. But they do not need religion. Love is spirituality, and spirituality Love. If this seems radically simple, an early Christian writer went much further. For he, the mystic John, wrote the life-changing words, "God is Love."
What do these dramatic words mean? They mean, among other things, that Love is all that a person really needs. Having to add anything, even religion, to Love is trying to "add to God." Since God is Infinity, by definition, it is not only unnecessary, but quite impossible, to "add anything" to God!
These powerful words imply that Love is complete, absolute spirituality. For spirituality is what you do on the inside, while religion is merely what you do on the outside. Any fool or hypocrite can be "religious." But a person who loves can be neither fool nor hypocrite.
Loving the self and others is more healing ("wholing") than any other form of psychotherapy. It is suggested that all people who are interested in spirituality should ideally become students of "agapology," the psychology of Love. And no therapy equals "agapotherapy," which is the actual practice or implementation of Love for self-healing.
To love is to "God," if that word may be expanded as a verb. Nothing can make the heart happier than Love! Why? Because Love is what we were created to accomplish. It is what we are made to do. It is what we are born to learn! You might say that life on earth is a "school of Love."
If you have ever been "in Love," you know the supreme ecstasy and bliss that Love can bring to the human soulmind! Love is not only the most joyful path that you can ever find, in the whole universe; but, in the final analysis, Love is the only action worth pursuing! For if one is sincere, and active, she really has all that she needs in Love. Her "religion" is her Love. For every act of Love is a sincere act of worship!
The enlightened actually worship Love. If all this is true, it also follows that everythought of Love is a true prayer. So, she can follow the apparently odd advice, "Pray without ceasing." For she can be determined to think always of Love; and every thought of Love is a healing thought, part of agapotherapy. Thoughts followed by loving acts constitute the matrix of the therapy. The person is healed by reaching out to, and attempting to heal, others.
"God is Love" means that we are to worship Love! This dispels antique, primitive, violent, ignorant God-images from history. These are "anthropomorphic," or formed in the image of human beings. So, they reflect a plethora of human imperfections, weaknesses, stupidities, and even cruelties. These historical "gods," such as Jehovah and Allah, exhibit jealousy, insecurity, anger, and a host of imperfections. Indeed, if a man acted as God is reported to have behaved, we would lock him up! This would be necessary for his own safety, as well as for that of society.
Why are these god-images so dangerous? Because they were formulated in the minds of very primitive, backwards, violent, warlike, precivilized people. These ancients "solved problems" by murder and violence; so, naturally, they believed that their gods behaved in this same psychotic, often monstrous, pattern. But the God of Love has another idea: He teaches us to solve interpersonal problems through the practices of goodness, compassion, tenderness, communication, and other Love-related qualities.
The free and happy person has such a strong, stable, and intimate relationship with Love that she can afford to abandon all these images of God. She can afford to be absolutely free from the destructive dominance of religion. She can shatter the shackles of any cult that would bind her with an abundance of laws. For she is free!
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CRYSTALS, LOVE, AND SELFLOVE
Selfhealing Begins with Selflove.
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To hold a clear crystal in your left hand during meditation helps clear the mind of "static," or freefloating thoughts; it aids the mind to settle into the thoughtfree state of deeper meditation. Crystals are also color-coded. Various colors have different applications. Crystals are also used to purify the energy in a room. On the astral plane (invisible mind-world), crystals give off a fine golden light that makes an area feel good. They are relaxing, and erase negative energy. (In mental vision, negative force is grey, brown, or black; the gold crystalforce helps to erase or neutralize this energy.)
To use a crystal for selfhealing, hold it in your left hand; then, visualize, and breathe in, the bright color needed. For intellectual work, yellow is used; for relaxation, blue; for energy, red; for Love, green; for sex, orange. Each function of life has its own appropriate color that amplifies the experience.
The best way to heal yourself, by far surpassing any other technique or method, is by actively loving others, and yourself. For each act of love is always an act of selfhealing. You will not be healed instantly, one hundred percent, by Love. But its effects are cumulative: One act of Love will heal you a little emotionally, another spiritually, another psychologically, and another physically. You never know exactly what kind of healing that an act of Love will bring. Most of the time, you might not be even able to detect it; but Love is the most powerful healingforce in the cosmos.
There is no such thing as an "insignificant" act of Love! Each is supremely important. Every act of Love is an act of worship, of prayer, of healing, and of liberation. This all starts with learning the gentle art of selflove; loving yourself counts as real Love!
How do you love yourself? Be gentle with yourself. Do not demand too much from yourself. Do not drive yourself. Do not exhaust yourself. Get plenty of rest, and give yourself healthy food. Enjoy delicious foods. But do not over-eat, as that is an act of self-abuse, and opposes selflove. As in all other aspects of her life, the wise person wants to love as much in nutrition as in every other area of her life. So, you might want to give some serious thought to a diet that does not produce violence and death to living creatures.
In loving yourself, you want to make your life as fun, as enjoyable, as possible! So, if there is ever a chance to have fun, if it does not harm anyone, go for it! Treat yourself to the things that you love, and surround yourself with the things that you love. Do not do anything that you do not want to do. Do enjoyable things, treat yourself, as often as possible.
Deep breathing and regular exercise keep the bodybrain system in balance. You cannot enjoy your life if your brain is not working, so try to support brain-activity by deep-breathing, regular exercise, and meat- and toxin-avoidance. These items are all parts of selflove.
Get regular exercise; but when your body says that it wants to rest, let it relax. Do not drive yourself. In fact, meditation is, among other things, the very deepest form of relaxation. So, devote some time every day to deep relaxation, or meditation, and do this as a gift to your bodymind; try not to skip a day. Immerse yourself in nature from time to time, which also has a healing effect.
If you add only one
microparticle each hour to your healing, in time, you will be completely healed
from the emotional scars of the past. Do something selfhealing right now,
for "now" is the only time that we ever have.
Do not just think about doing these healing activities, but start actually to
do something for your body; give it a special gift right now!
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LOVELETTERS FROM FRIENDS, BUDS, AND PALS
From Heidi Nordstrom:
I haven't met Brenda [Lee] in person. She is a web friend. A few years ago, she approached me because of my JW stuff, especially the "advice" page. She was just starting to produce her "Cocoon" ex-JW newsletter and asked me to contribute some of the jokes I had. I also pointed her to the Meetup site, gave her some links, advertised the newsletter-- things like that. We've had a pleasant correspondence… I understand that she has a book out. That reminds me to grab a copy and take a look. When the "Losing My Religion" documentary people [a filmproject in California] were looking for exJWs, I gave them only two names - yours and Brenda's. It would be fun to meet her one day.
I've really been enjoying your posts. Because they need a little reformatting from the email to the blog (it's just a matter of line endings), I should really create some little automated solution. ) I read them very carefully line-by-line.) There is always something new, something I hadn't considered from that angle, a tidbit of insight that penetrates through my thinking rather than simply "rearranging my prejudices." (I think that was William James, but I'm not positive.)
Hope you are well, dear friend. Love to all.
Heidi
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The Universe Within: Calling Forth the Six Directions
In native shamanism, the most popular of all the intercultural rites, rituals, or ceremonies among the tribes is the "Six Direction Ceremony." I have performed this many times during my career as a spiritual teacher. But I have also modified it somewhat, as this paper will explain.
Amazingly, this versatile and profound Ceremony is not limited to native American tradition. For the same ceremony is also represented as a foundational ceremony in European Hermetics. In that tradition, it is traced to the prehistoric shamans who created Egyptian and, later, Greek mythology.
A comparison between the two ceremonies is enlightening, as it reveals much about the origins of both; each shines an analytical light upon the other. The native rite draws its Power from "nature." But the Hermetic goes even deeper, asking, What is the very source of nature?
And its answer is Mind. Nature, it says, is created—more literally, dreamed into being—by a great Mind. This is, of course, the Wakan Tanka of native tradition. So, says Hermetics, the Six Direction Ceremony is not a way to "reach out" too nature, but a way to reach into the deeper Mind. While the native, therefore, looks to nature, expecting the "Spirit" to be "out there," the Hermetic looks within; it draws the six powers from deep within the Mind. For the "outer, material" world, it teaches, is also Mind only. In this, it agrees with the deepest mystical and universal traditions of spirituality.
Symbolism differs. One of the first things noticed is that the directional colors are different. In native tradition, the east is red, the south yellow, the west black, and the north white—going clockwise. In Hermetics, bright primary colors were chosen to trigger "archetypal" (very profound) energies from the unconscious Mind. The colors used in the Hermetic ceremony also represent the four elements; each is further symbolized by a geometric form. And they are:
North—yellow—earth--square
East—blue—air-- circle
South—red—fire-- triangle
West—silver—water-- crescent
***
I have done the Six Direction Ceremony many times, and, being an eclectic by nature, have combined the native and the Hermetic. In Hermetics, the Ceremony begins with the north, but in native practice, it begins with the east. Here is the native, by comparison:
East--red—enlightenment, awakening
South—yellow—healing, growth
West—black, the mysteries of Infinity and Spirit
north—white—purity, endurance, strength, honesty
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Implements. In the shamanic ritual, the pipe is the implement used for all four directions, and in all invocations. But in Hermetics, each direction has its own implement. The implement of the north, held in the left hand when invoking the power, is the crystal. In archaic times, a copper plate inscribed with a five-pointed star, called the "pentacle," often was also used. The implement of the east was the knife, for the south, the wand, and for the west, the chalice. Often, as with the shamanic costume, one doing the Six Direction Ceremony wears a special garment used for nothing else. (Mine is saffron silk from India.)
Meanings. Each of the four directions represents a part or aspect of human psychology. The north represents tenacity, endurance, strength, cohesion, adhesion, stone, cement, concrete, the durable, determined, and great inertial force. (It also represents taurus, virgo, and capricorn.)
The east represents communication, cooperation, birdsong, animal-talk (communion with nature), wisdom, intellect, science, nature-studies, and wisdom. (It is also gemini, libra, and aquarius.)
The south is heat, energy, force, passion, intensity, sunlight, fire, bio-energy, mental (emotional and spiritual) energy. (It is aries, leo, and sagittarius.)
The west symbolizes "flogoing," or cooperation with the cosmos, Tao, non-resistance, harmony, being "in synch" with nature, becoming a "vessel" for nature or for Mind. It is feeling, intuition, and psychic energy and parapsychological manifestations. It is dreams and visions. (It is cancer, scorpio, and pisces.)
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A Six Direction Ceremony might begin with a verbal, audible call to the directions. Also, there are two additional forces called forth in Ceremony in both native and Hermetic traditions: These are "Father Sky" (blue in native tradition, gold in Hermetic) and "Mother Earth" (green in both). In Hermetics, "Mother Earth" is contrasted with the northern element, "Sister Earth," and represents all the mysteries of life, and all bio-processes and bio-healing. "Father Sky" represents Mind and Love.
A Ceremony begins with a phrase such as, "Sister Earth, we call you forth now from the great Unconscious Mind (or, the Collective), as we fill this room with bright, vivid yellow energy to attract thy power. We call thee forth as elementals." These are pictured as spheres of vivid yellow light, ranging from baseball-size to beachball-size. They are then "programmed" to perform a specific task in the "astral" world (the world of Mind), and are programmed to "do no harm." Then, they are "sent forth" into the "world." A ceremony might include only a few, or it might involve hundreds (of smaller ones).
Sometimes, a Ceremony is not this specific. At marriages, for example, the qualities are all called forth from the great Mind, and the room is filled with the spectacular colors, but the forces are not "coalesced" as "elementals." Then, it is just formless energy that is called forth and sent into the marriage, or into the world, or into the future. These are just symbolic ways of doing the same thing: Breaking the powers away from the Mind, and giving them autonomy.
Natives use the "equilateral" cross to symbolize the four directions of the cosmos. This symbol is also found in many other cultures, and in Hermetics. There, it also represents cosmos; but, inside a circle – symbolic of Mind – it illustrates that the whole cosmos is the dream of the great Mind.
Six Direction Ceremonies are probably the most useful of all. They are used for only positive activity—blessing, never cursing, healing, never making ill. They can be tailored to accomplish any goal. Or, a general Ceremony might not have a specific goal; it occurs simply to remind you that you, as mind, are interconnected with a vast web, a network, of Mindforces throughout the universe. You are a part of nature, and it is a part of you. Deep in the Unconscious, "your" mind grows out of the great Mind of Wakan Tanka.
HOW
DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? sent
in by Cheri Cones
( 1 ) You got to find somebody who
likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you
like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan,
age 10 (true sports fan)
( 2 ) No person really decides before
they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you
get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kirsten,
age 10
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
( 1 ) Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person
FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10
( 2 ) No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married.
-- Freddie, age 6 (very wise for his age)
HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE
ARE MARRIED?
( 1 ) You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the
same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD
HAVE IN COMMON?
( 1 ) Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8
WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
( 1 ) Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each
other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)
( 2 ) On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets
them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10
WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT
WAS TURNING SOUR?
( 1 ) I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers
and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
( 1 ) When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7
( 2 ) The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with
that.
-- Curt, age 7
( 3 ) The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them
and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8
IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
(1 ) It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to
clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)
HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF
PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
( 1 ) There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8
And the #1 Favorite is.....
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
( 1 ) Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-- Ricky, age 10 (future
diplomat)